– in the House of Commons at on 24 March 1943.
Mr Ivor Thomas
, Keighley
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has received any explanation from the Swedish Government regarding the German aircraft carrying 19 German soldiers which made a forced landing in Sweden?
Mr Norman Bower
, Harrow
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is now satisfied that German transport aircraft carrying troops and unmounted machine guns have been passing over Swedish territory; and, if so, whether he will make it clear to the Swedish Government that these breaches of neutrality on the part of Sweden must inevitably react to her disadvantage in connection with any post-war settlement of political and economic problems?
Mr Richard Law
, Kingston upon Hull South West
My right hon. Friend has already communicated with His Majesty's Minister in Stockholm, who has been instructed to establish the facts of this case and to ascertain what is the Swedish Government's explanation of the incident. But I am not yet in a position to make a definite statement.
Major-General Sir Alfred Knox
, Wycombe
Surely the Government have power to do something to bring Sweden more into line. Her attitude ever since the beginning of the war has been pro-Axis. She allowed Norwegian and German troops to go through and refused permission for our troops to go through to Finland.
Mr Richard Law
, Kingston upon Hull South West
The first thing to do is to establish the facts, and that is being done.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
